Transcript Battles of WWII

Battles of WWII
In a nut shell
Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939
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Hitler used blitzkrieg “lightening
war” strategy to successfully
conquer western Poland: take
enemy by surprise with fast
planes, tanks, and infantry
Fall of France
June 22, 1940
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Hitler invades France
through Ardennes
Forest (heavily
wooded area on the
Fr-Belgian border)
Rescue at Dunkirk:
British evacuate 338,000
French on yachts and
fishing boats
Charles de Gaulle est.
exiled government in
London
Battle of Britain
Summer 1940-May 1941
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German Luftwaffe (air force) bombed
British airfields, factories, and cities
British RAF (Royal Air Force) used
radar and enigma to anticipate attacks

BRITAIN DOES NOT FALL!
Lend Lease Act
March 1941
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US agrees to sell weapons to
countries vital to US security
German u-boats target American ships
US Oil Embargo
July 1941
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US refuses to sell oil to Japanese after
they invade Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos (French colonies)
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
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“A date which will live in infamy”
2 hour air raid – Japanese damage 8
battleships; kill 2,300; wound 1,100
US enters WWII
December 8, 1941
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US declares war
on Japan
Germany and
Italy (Axis Allies)
declare war on
US
Bataan Death March
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Japan invades Philippines (US colony)
70,000 allied prisoners of war were
forced to march 50 miles… only
54,000 survived
Battle of Guadalcanal
August 7, 1942-February 1943
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“The island of death”
US invades island to
stop Japanese from
building an air base
24,000 of 36,000
Japanese killed
Battle of Stalingrad
August 23, 1942- Feb 2, 1943
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Mein Kampf outlined
Hitler’s plans to invade
Soviet Union, take raw
materials and enslave
Russians
Hitler attacks Soviet
industrial center
Winter sets in – Hitler
refuses to retreat
 100,000 Germans killed
 80,000 Germans
captured
D-Day
May 1944

Code name for
Allied invasion of
Normandy,
France
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150,000 troops
invade coast to
retake France
Mussolini Assassinated
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Shot, hung
upside down on
meat hooks,
and stoned
Hitler’s suicide
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Hitler, wife, and dog commit suicide
(cyanide capsule)
V-E Day

Victory
Over
Europe
Day:
Germans
and
Italians
surrender
US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
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“Little Boy” killed 70,000
100,000s die of cancer
and radiation poisoning
US drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
August 9, 1945
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“Fat man” killed 40,000
100,000 die of cancer and radiation
poisoning
V-J Day
August 15, 1945

Victory over Japan
Day